That One Year Before
by Eclissy
Summary: Eric's journal during his time in the Himuro area when he was in hiding with Blaire.


**This is a Fatal Frame/Project Zero (sorta) fic.**

**This really isn't anything dynamic. It's more of a slice of life/mystery (?) fic before the Calamity happened and there are a few entries after it happened. Some of the things here are my own headcannons. It's also a practice in writing suspence/mystery and maybe some horror?**

**For the people who wandered here because they saw the title in one of my other fics, this sheds more light on Eric and Blaire and where they've gone before. If you want to know what the Fatal Frame/Project Zero series is about, I really do recommend either playing any of them or watching a walkthrough on youtube. But you don't have to if you don't have the time.**

**I decided to put this in the misc. category because I don't want to clog the archive with this. This relates more to my own characters and a bunch of headcannons of the First Fatal Frame story. If anything, this is just supplementary readings for my main fic at the moment.**

**This is Eric's journal. He keeps thousands of them for reasons. My friend asked that if my OCs were my kids, which one would be my favorite? Eric would be my favorite son. I play favorites. But that also means my favorites get the most trouble thrown at them.**

**I'm also writing this on the side while I write chapter 28 for DE. It seems appropriate and keeps my attention focused on writing. Multitasking helps me concentrate and so does drinking sweet teas and eating chips. My keyboard is a mess.**

**That One Year Before**

**February 5th 1822**

It seems our travels have taken us to Japan. Again. I like the place. It's pretty, especially when it snows like it is right now. Though it would be prettier if I wasn't slowly freezing to death in an abandoned shack while trying to hide from the locals. Oh and before I forget, this is the Japan with the quaint little village with a hell hole that they regularly throw outsiders and their own children into. Not the one with the cute little monsters running around or the one with the sponsored super heroes or any of the actual enjoyable ones. No. Of all place to get flung into, Blaire and I have to fall into this one to hide. I'm not sure how long we're going to hide from _them _but I don't think the locals would react well to two outsiders even if I do speak the language and some Portuguese. Wait a sec. Where's Blaire?

**February 5th 1816**

I found Blaire. She wandered outside the shack again. She was lying down in the snow and staring up into the sky. If she had stayed there for any longer, she would have been completely buried by the falling snow. But even if she did stay there for the entire night, she'd wake up the next morning just fine.

Even though that is true, being out here in the dark and cold would be too lonely so I pulled her back into the shack. She was disappointed.

We're staying in the here for now. It's slightly warmer in here than it is outside. Blaire asked me if I wanted to start a fire but I don't want to attract any unwanted attention to us. I don't know how we're going to live for the next while but I'm sure I'll think of something.

**February 6th 1816**

Woke up in the middle of the night. I thought I felt someone standing outside. Blaire did too. We both peeked outside and found nothing. Whatever woke me up gave me a bad feeling. I didn't sleep the entire night. I just felt a clawing in the back of my mind that wouldn't let up. I couldn't sleep.

We're going to leave now while the sun is still below the horizon. I don't want to stay any longer. Blaire said that she wanted to go East but she felt uneasy about it. The last time we felt something like this, we went with our gut feeling and ended up in that village. Forget that, we're going West. I've been in torture chambers more enjoyable than that place.

**February 6th 1816**

So far, traveling West has been a good idea. We're just resting under a tree right now.

We decided to take an unmarked route to avoid other travelers. Until I find a way to disguise my sister, running into any of the locals is a big no no. My appearance is easy enough to cover. I just change my hair color black and tell people that my mother dropped me on my face in a strange angle and that's why I look different from them but still look like a stud.

With Blaire, it's harder. Her hair is pure white and she's pale as a ghost. Her eyes scare people and I really don't want to run from another angry mob but I also don't want to walk around with a stumbling mummy. None of our clothes had hoods and there weren't appropriate hats so dug around and found a pretty yukata in our bags and wrapped it around Blaire's head. It looked terribly uncomfortable and she can't see anything but no one can see her so no one will get scared and the plum blossom pattern reminds me of spring. How refreshing. For me. Not for her.

I think she can't breathe but breathing gets hard when people are trying to burn you alive so we're taking the slightly safer option.

My feet are freezing. I keep losing my sandals in the snow.

**February 6th 1816**

We met some other travelers.

Blaire wandered out again to the middle of the snowy field. This time I kept an eye on her from my spot under the tree. She was scratching at her wrapped up head like she was really itchy. Giving up on that, she suddenly flopped down on her back and went limp. Maybe she wanted to stare up into the sky again?

That was when I saw three people running towards us. One was a woman and her child was sprinting ahead of her with a traveling monk who was waving his staff around.

Seeing that gave me flashbacks to that pit and I booked it across the field and got to Blaire first. I hauled her up and tried to wake her but she didn't move. She was probably tired from all of that walking.

That made it easier for the monk and little boy to catch up and both of them tackled me to the ground. Who knew that monks with their really tall hats could be that fast and strong?

They pinned me down and the woman with them started to tear the yukata from my sister's head.

"No! Stop! Get away from my sister!" I yelled at them.

"What in the world are you doing to this poor girl?" The monk demanded, struggling to keep me down.

"Oh my." The woman gasped when Blaire sat up, her white hair a mess.

"Thank you," She croaked, rubbing her throat. "I was trying to tell you that I couldn't see or breathe but the cloth muffled my voice." Blaire cleared her throat and the monk began to repeatedly hit me over the head with his staff.

"Yukionna?" The little boy poked Blaire playfully.

"No no, it's just a normal girl, dear," His mother chided. "What is your name?"

"I…" Blaire glanced over to me and then the boy. The monk was busy scolding me for 'teasing' my sister in 'such a mean spirited manner.'

"What would be a good name for me?" She asked the boy, pointing to herself.

"Oh oh!" The boy quickly got on his knees and started to trace out kanji in the snow. "I just leaned some today. How about Hiyuki?" The boy asked excitedly.

"And my brother?"

"Hmmmm," The boy glanced over at me, still being beaten by that crazy monk. "Ah, I learned this one yesterday," He traced another character into the snow. "Isei?"

"Wonderful," Blaire smiled, patting the boy's head. "What should our surnames be?"

"I know! This one sounds really cool. Amashi." The boy beamed after he had finished drawing out the name. The two characters in the name meant 'heavenly' and 'vision.'

"Dear, I think you mean Tenshi," his mother knelt down beside him. It was interesting. She didn't seem to be afraid of Blaire or myself. "Though it would make a strange name either way."

"That's okay. Amashi is different name like we are," Blaire picks up the wrinkled yukata in the snow and brushed her hand over the pattern. For a moment, the yukata appeared to glow and the monk finally stopped his brutal beating to gape.

(In slightly newer ink, writing is scrawled on the side of the entry)

_He wasn't hitting you that hard, Eric. Please don't exaggerate. It'll create inaccuracies and corrupt your memories. _

"Have this," Blaire draped the warm yukata over the boy's shoulders. "It will keep you and your mother warm until you reach your destination. But please, no one must tell anyone about us. It may lose its magic if you do."

"Thank you!" The boy wrapped the yukata around himself tighter and went to lean against his mother.

"How is that…" The woman holding her child trails off. She decided not to question Blaire any further. Whatever magic she thought Blaire had used, she believed that refusing the gift of a yokai or divine spirit was unwise. "Thank you very much," The woman bowed deeply. "Where are you traveling?"

Blaire pointed West and the monk gasped.

"Please do not go West," He took off his hat and stared in the direction we were headed with unease. There were snowy mountains farther down and it felt like they were looking down on us. "You would be heading towards the Himuro mountains. I sense a heavy presence in this area."

"You sense something?" I rubbed my throbbing head (_you are exaggerating again, Eric). _"What do you mean? I don't sense anything."

"It would not be wise to go near that place for the time being. We are traveling Eastward to a village that should be nearby," The monk explains. "I sense danger over those mountains. Please, if you would join us, I'm sure-"

"Ha ha, do you know what happened the last time a monk invited me to their village?" I stood up and pushed past the monk to get to my sister. I grabbed her hand and began to pull her with me. "You were there too Bl- I mean Hiyuki. We aren't going through that again."

"Wait, please listen-" The woman tries to help the monk stop us. Her child was hiding behind her, hiding his face in the yukata because he was scared of me. He wasn't going to tell anyone about us and the mother and monk wasn't going to either.

"I like my arms attached, thank you very much. We both do. We're strong. We'll take our chances with the scary mountains," I said in a mocking manner. "It can't be any worse than that last place."

"Isei, maybe we should-" I was stopped in my tracks all of a sudden. The monk had taken a hold of Blaire's shoulder. "Let go. I'm not afraid of going to hell for punching a monk. I've seen what it looks like down there," I paused. "Well, not this kind of hell but maybe I'll luck out and end up in one of the fun ones."

The monk looked at me like I was crazy and I swear, he really was going to pick a fight with me but Blaire stepped in and stopped him.

_Eric, I don't think monks like to pick fights. _

"Please don't. We can manage on our own. Go now if you sense danger," Blaire gently took his hand off of her shoulder and bowed slightly. "Thank you for helping me and for your concern but if my brother thinks we can make it, I'll take his word for it."

The monk looked like he really did not want to let us leave but he relented in the end. He had to escort the woman and her child to his village before night falls again. They still had quite the walk ahead of them.

"At least take this," The monk handed her a folded red oil-paper umbrella. That was strange. It was a sizable umbrella and I don't think it was the type that was used in any of the religious ceremonies in the area. Where did he get it from? Where did he even pull it from? I didn't see him carrying it and I couldn't tell from reading him what was so important about giving us the umbrella. "Perhaps in your travels, it will help you."

I don't trust monks. Especially ones with gifts. I did trust them once. And then that happened.

_It was just that one time. They didn't want to do it._

I would've tried to make Blaire give the umbrella back but she had already opened it and held it up to lean it against her shoulder. Blaire wasn't going to give it up easily.

"Fine. If you don't have anything else worthwhile to say, we're going." I started to walk in the direction of the mountains. I didn't bother looking back.

Blaire gave them her farewell and ran after me.

After that, I don't know where those people went. What we got from our meeting were our new aliases and an umbrella.

I thought about wrapping umbrella around Blaire's head but I don't want to handle anything that monk touched.

We're taking another break. Hopefully we'll find a long term home soon. Maybe even today.

Blaire asked me if I really didn't sense anything like the monk had. I didn't and I still don't sense anything.

I'm sure that monk was just crazy or trying to get attention with his spoooooooky warning. What's so bad about Himuro anyway? It's peaceful with all of this snow and there isn't anyone around either. We can take a clearer path this time.

That monk was full of bull. We're going to be just fine, I know it.

**February 5th 1837**

You want to hear, don't you? Don't you? Fine! I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I made a terrible mistake. We should have we never should have, all of those people in there were, we didn't even say good bye.

It was a mistake. It was a bad call. It's my fault. I don't even remember my name from back then. We can't go back but we haven't left.

_ I told him duty comes first. I told him duty comes first. Was I wrong?_


End file.
